1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety equipment and a method for warning of a potential safety hazard, and more particularly, is a warning apparatus and method for alerting people in the vicinity of a slippery surface of such potential safety hazard.
2. Related Art
In virtually every business, most notably businesses with visiting customers or clients, it is incumbent upon the employees to maintain the floors and other surfaces in a professional manner. This means that floors have to be cleaned and sanitized daily, and oftentimes, several times a day depending upon the amount of foot traffic. In addition, to keep up appearances, some floors may have to be waxed, buffed, and treated with various chemicals, several of which may be in fluid form.
To this end, many businesses, or even property management corporations with condominiums and apartments task their employees with the assignment of polishing, cleaning, or otherwise treating various surfaces such as floors. One example is a retail or service location open for business 24 hours per day, such as various grocery stores, or fitness gym establishments. On occasion, various treatments must be made to the floors or other surfaces, which may create a hazardous condition on the floor. And although the employee may be able to warn a patron of the condition himself, there may be times when the patron may be out of his or her line of sight (e.g., her back is to the patron).
Additionally, one of the greatest concerns of any retail store such as a grocery store, or the like, is the danger of slip and fall litigation. Each year, many store customers wind up slipping on slippery surfaces in various aisles at a time before an employee can clean up slippery surface and/or make the premises safe for customers. Oftentimes, these slippery surfaces come from leaking beverage containers or other liquid filled containers, which may have been punctured in transit, or through the handling of either employees or customers.
For these reasons, many lawsuits are filed each year, which engenders an extraordinary expense to brick and mortar based industries. As a result, these stores have been required to carry various insurance policies, which charge hefty premiums.
To mitigate exposure, many restaurants and stores have implemented 15 to 30 minute sweep checks, which require employees to sweep the floor on all the aisles and to keep a lookout for dangerous slippery surfaces. And when an employee spots a slippery surface, they must immediately stop what they are doing and find a mop, sign, etc. to make sure no one gets hurt.
Unfortunately, there may be times when an employee may not be able to sufficiently remove the fluids from the floor immediately. This may be due to the relative toxicity of the fluids, or perhaps the existence of additional slippery surfaces elsewhere. And in the case where the fluids are transparent, their opacity lends itself to an even greater safety threat.
Therefore, a need exists for a system that will alert persons to where a dangerous slippery surface exists and precisely the borders of that slippery surface.